Blogger’s Note: This is the third of four posts detailing the art of putting your golf bag together, driver down to the putter.
Now that we have helped determine your driver loft, figured out your longest playable iron, and gotten an idea of the long game clubs you should carry, let’s go to the other end of your set and decide on your wedges.
Question 7
How Many Wedges Should I Carry?
While there is no finite answer, let’s attack this in two scenarios using our earlier discussion regarding your long game.
Scenario 1: You are leaning toward one fairway wood and two hybrids.
Scenario 2: You are leaning toward one fairway wood and one hybrid.
In scenario 1, you should think of carrying 3 wedges (including your pitching wedge)
In scenario 2, you should think of carrying 4 wedges (also includes your PW)
Question 8
What Lofts Should I Have?
I mentioned in last week’s long game post that it is important to stay within the mindset of having no less than 4 degrees and no more than 6 degrees variance from one club to another.
Unlike with your long game clubs, however, I do not suggest straying at all from these loft parameters.
When we began looking at hybrids, I advised you to decide the loft of your longest iron (which we said was a 4-iron at 24 degrees). Now that we are looking at wedges, my advice is to begin by finding out the loft of your shortest non-wedge iron, which would be your 9-iron.
For this example we will use a 44 degree 9-iron.
Let’s take a broad view of wedge lofts and say that the spectrum begins with a strong pitching wedge of 45 degrees and goes up to an extreme lofted lob wedge of 64 degrees.
In the first scenario used in Question 7, you would want a 48 degree pitching wedge, a 52/53 degree gap wedge, and a 57/58 degree sand/lob wedge to comprise your 3 wedges.
Using scenario 2, you would want a 48 degree PW, a 52/53 degree GW, a 56/57/58 degree SW, and a lob wedge of at least 60 degrees to fill out your set.
Question 9
How Important Is Bounce?
Bounce, which in technical jargon is the angle between your club’s sole and the turf as you set it at address, is very important when choosing a wedge.
While turf conditions play a part in determining the best bounce for you, my suggestion is to weigh your decision heaviest on your individual swing type.
If you are a player that has a steep angle of attack and tend to dig into the turf when you swing, you should gravitate toward wedges with higher bounce. Conversely, if you have a more traditional ”sweeping” angle, lower bounce profiles will benefit your swing.
Not sure? As always, a trained set of eyes such as an experienced club fitter and/or a PGA professional will be a major asset.
Question 10
Which Wedge Should I Use In Specific Situations?
Get a good sense of how far you hit can each wedge by testing yourself both on the range and on the golf course with the goal of determining if your wedges are gapped out appropriately.
Once you have a good idea of your “max” distances, see how much distance control you have by developing 3/4 and 1/2 swing shots.
Figuring out how far you hit a wedge with a full swing and on “knock down shots” will begin to help you determine your full capabilities with a wedge, however it doesn’t take someone playing golf very long before finding out that wedges perform a variety of functions on the golf course.
From bump & run shots to flop shots, and from tight lies to sandy lies you ask a lot out of your wedges.
Figuring out how you use your wedges around the green is ultimately the essence of deciding on which wedges you should carry.
Through trial and error, discover which loft you are best with from greenside bunkers, for basic pitch shots and for the times when you are faced with a forced flop shot.
Ask yourself if these 3 greenside shots require you to use 3 different wedges or will 2 wedges suffice? (For argument’s sake I am saying that your pitching wedge would be your 4th or 3rd wedge pulled from the above example)
The answer to this question, in conjunction with what you’ve found when testing your long game, could be a key answer in putting your bag together.
Next week we finalize your bag!!!
Greg
